MovieRentals

There's no point in letting a $1 billion lawsuit get in the way of a good thing. Even though Viacom and Google's YouTube are still embroiled in a five-year legal tussle over video clips, the two are hooking up in a digital streaming deal.

Netflix hopes its latest move doesn't turn out to resemble a British comedy. The video buffet operator introduced its streaming service in Ireland and the U.K. on Monday. And while overseas expansion is old hat for Netflix, this time, the challenges are bigger.

Netflix's massive rate hike plan represents a 60% increase for some of its customers -- a giant step up by any standard. And the unspoken cost is, of course, the price of broadband Internet service customers also pay, likely on top of a cable bill, cellphone bill and other media subscriptions. In the end, how much media - and how many subscriptions - do we really need? Even as the offerings around us increase, there are still only 24 hours in a day.

Movie rental giant Netflix's decision to raise rates by up to 60% has caused a big stir among some of its 23 million subscribers. Could the higher prices lead to cancellations, slow the company's growth? Are you a subscriber? Share your thoughts about the rate hike on our message board.